Simi Valley, California July 4 fireworks accident injures 28

Fireworks from an Independence Day celebration in Simi Valley, California, accidentally flew into a crowd of thousands of onlookers.

Fireworks from an Independence Day celebration in Simi Valley, California, accidentally flew into a crowd of thousands of onlookers, injuring 28 people, authorities said on Friday.

Shortly after a Simi Valley Rotary Club fireworks show, about 30 miles from Los Angeles, began late Thursday, fireworks landed in a crowd of 8,000 to 10,000 onlookers gathered in a park, the Simi Valley Police Department said on its Facebook page.

"Although the investigation is ongoing, it is believed that at least one of the firework launching stations fell over after the fireworks were ignited, resulting in ignited fireworks going into the waiting crowd," the statement said. It was not clear at what point the fireworks ignited.

Twenty-eight people ranging in age from 8 to 78 suffered injuries consistent with shrapnel and projectile wounds. Police said 20 people were taken to hospitals, with four seriously injured.

There was no sign of foul play and the incident appeared to be an accident, officials said in the statement. The unexploded fireworks were disarmed by the Ventura County Sheriff's Department bomb squad.

Bay Fireworks of Bethpage, New York, mounted the fireworks show, the second year the Rotary Club had used the company, the statement said. A company spokesman was not immediately available for comment.